Record count of bighorn sheep

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 2025 bighorn sheep survey, completed by recounting lambs in March, revealed a record 378 bighorn sheep in the Badlands of western North Dakota, up 8% from 2024 and 10% above the five-year average. The 2025 survey was the fifth record count in the past six years.

Brett Wiedmann, department big game biologist, said 104 rams, 234 ewes and 40 lambs were counted. Not included are approximately 40 bighorn sheep in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and bighorns introduced to the Fort Berthold Reservation in 2020.

A bighorn sheep hunting season is tentatively scheduled for 2026. The status of the season will be determined Sept. 1, following the 2026 summer population survey.

2025 deer season summarized

A total of 36,353 N.D. deer hunters took approximately 20,877 deer during the 2025 deer gun hunting season, according to a post-season survey conducted by the N.D. Game and Fish Department.

Game and Fish made available 42,300 deer gun licenses last year. Overall hunter success was 57%, with each hunter spending an average of 4.9 days in the field.

Hunter success for white-tailed deer was 53% for antlered and 45% for antlerless whitetails.

Mule deer license holder success was 82% for antlered and 82% for antlerless mule deer.

Advisory board meetings announced

The N.D. Game and Fish Department Advisory Board will host public meetings this spring at eight locations across the state from April 9-21.

These public meetings provide citizens with an opportunity to discuss fish and wildlife issues and ask questions of their district advisors and agency personnel.

The district 7 meeting in Bismarck will be streamed live on the Game and Fish website where a list of the meetings is available.

New state record yellow perch

A 3-pound yellow perch caught March 1 by Wisconsin angler Alan Hintz is the new state record, according to N.D. Game and Fish Department personnel.

Hintz caught the 16.5-inch perch through the ice in the Pelican Bay area on Devils Lake.

The previous record of 2 pounds, 15 ounces, also from Devils Lake, was set in 1982 by Kyle Smith of Carrington.

Whooping crane migration

Whooping cranes are migrating and sightings will increase as they make their way through N.D. over the next several weeks. Anyone seeing these endangered birds as they move through the state should report sightings so the birds can be tracked.

The whooping cranes that do travel through N.D. are part of a population of about 550 birds on their way from wintering grounds in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.

Whoopers stand about 5 feet tall and have a wingspan of about 7 feet from tip to tip. They are bright white with black wing tips, visible only when the wings are outspread. In flight, they extend their long necks, while their long, slender legs extend behind the tail. Whooping cranes typically migrate singly, or in groups of two to three birds, and may be associated with sandhill cranes.

Other white birds such as snow geese, swans and egrets are often mistaken for whooping cranes. The most common misidentification is pelicans, because their wingspan is similar and they tuck their pouch in flight, leaving a silhouette similar to a crane when viewed from below.

Anyone sighting whoopers should not disturb them, but record the date, time, location and the birds’ activity. Observers should also look for and report colored bands, which may occur on one or both legs. Whooping cranes have been marked with colored leg bands to help determine their identity.

Whooping crane sightings should be reported to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices at Lostwood, 848-2466; Audubon, 442-5474; N.D. Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, 328-6300; or to local game wardens across the state. Reports help biologists locate important whooping crane habitat areas, monitor marked birds, determine survival and population numbers, and identify times and migration routes.

2026 waterfowl hunting season

N.D.’s waterfowl season opens for residents Sept. 26, while nonresidents may begin hunting waterfowl Oct. 5.

The resident-only portion of the season has been extended from seven days in previous years to nine days in 2026. This change, which was first presented to the public starting summer 2025, provides additional early season opportunities for resident hunters.

The zones and overall season structure for nonresident hunters will remain the same as the 2025 hunting season.

The N.D. 2026-27 Hunting and Trapping Guide will be available this summer and will provide further details on the waterfowl hunting season.

Spring mule deer survey begins

The state Game and Fish Department’s annual spring aerial mule deer survey was scheduled to begin April 1 and run through April 24 in western N.D.. It typically takes about two weeks to complete, weather permitting.

During the survey period, people could notice low-flying small airplanes over some parts of the badlands.

Game and Fish biologists have completed aerial surveys of the same 24 badlands study areas since the 1950s. The purpose of the survey is to determine a population index to assess mule deer abundance in the Badlands.